Let’s jump right into politics! I saw something very disturbing in the last couple of days. Two items that really made me stop and scratch my head. One was a government program that was looking into infertility problems with same sex couples. Another was a government program to study how voice changes effect transgendered individuals’ self esteem. Now both of these items were given a LOT of money from the government (read “our tax money”). So I started looking around trying to verify this and I couldn’t do it. What I DID find was a list of government programs that, frankly, makes me sick at my stomach that I am having to pay for. I’m just going to list a few of them here with some quick comments on them.

• Protecting a Michigan insect collection from other insects ($187,632) <- Really? a collection? Not even live insects?
• Developing a program to develop “machine-generated humor” in Illinois ($712,883) <- You’ve got to be kidding me. Do we REALLY want our computers pulling pranks and cracking jokes?
• Studying why deleting a gene can create sex reversal in people, but not in mice  in Minnesota ($190,000) <- ok… do we really have a lot of mice wanting to reverse their gender?
• New jumbo recycling bins with microchips embedded inside to track participation  in Ohio ($500,000) <- Why don’t we have people who’ve learned “empty” from “full” to work collecting the recycling? Half a million dollars for “Smart Trash Cans”?
• 18 North Carolina teacher coaches to heighten math and reading performance ($4.4  million) <- If they can’t do the job, fire them and hire someone who can! Don’t spend millions on people that should have learned this BEFORE they got their degree!
• Retrofitting light switches with motion sensors for one company in Arizona  ($800,000) <- I have no comment. That’s just stupid… and WE PAID FOR IT!
• Removing graffiti along 100 miles of flood-control ditches in California  ($837,000) <- hey… save the money and put the people serving community service out doing it!
• Producing and transporting peanuts and peanut butter in North Carolina  ($900,000) <- Ok… these are getting too stupid for comment… I’m just going to list the rest of them without comment.
• Elevating and relocating 3,000 feet of track for the Napa Valley Wine Train in  California ($54 million)
• Professors and employees of Iowa state universities voluntarily taking early  retirement ($43 million)
• Missouri bridge project that already was full-funded with state money ($8  million)
• University in Oklahoma sending 3 researchers to Alaska to study grandparents and  how they pass on knowledge to younger generations ($1.5 million)
• Bridge built over railroad crossing so 168 Nebraska town residents don’t have to  wait for the trains to pass ($7 million)
• Beautification of Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard ($1.1 million)
• New spring training facilities for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies  ($30 million)
• Putting free WiFi, Internet kiosks and interactive history lessons in 2 Texas  rest stops ($13.8 million)
• Road signs touting stimulus funds at work in Ohio ($1 million)
• Researching how paying attention improves performance of difficult tasks in  Connecticut ($850,000)
• Fire station without firefighters in Nevada ($2 million)

Ok. That’s just from one list I found from the 2010 budget and this doesn’t even touch things like the national endowment for the arts. Listen… if you are an artist and you can’t sell your art… go get a REAL job and do your art as a hobby. I don’t see a “national endowment for the web developer” anywhere!

Now being serious, a lot of the things I found are not necessarily bad things. But they ARE bad when our tax money has to pay for them. And for Pete’s sake, get it right… welfare is NOT an “entitlement,” its a program for giving you something you’ve not earned. Social Security IS an entitlement because you paid into it your whole life and you are ENTITLED to it. These seem to be very small numbers compared to our debt, but this is just a short sampling. There are THOUSANDS of these stupid programs out there.

Don’t take my statements to mean I am cold or heartless, but there is a difference between giving a hand up and giving a hand out. PBS and NPR are another couple of things that need to be axed, in my opinion. They are always doing telethons to raise money for PBS, but still get money from the government. If they can’t pay their way, they should restructure, or close the door. I actually had a liberal friend tell me one time that it should be a crime for sports figures and entertainers to make more than $100,000 per year. She said that anything over that should be taken from them and given to the poor.

So all men are created equal? That might be so, but their situations are certainly not equal. Let’s not kid ourselves, some people have it easier than others. Some are even smarter than others! That’s not fair! Well, folks, no one ever said life was fair.

Now I don’t believe in ranting about stuff without giving a solution. It might not be perfect, but I won’t be one of those people that whines and complains without suggesting changes, so here goes…

Let’s throw out the whole tax code. Now bring in a new flat rate tax that only starts at a minimum yearly income. Let’s call that, for ease of computation, $20,000. So as long as you don’t make more than $20,000 you won’t pay a dime in taxes. At $20,001 a flat rate of 10% kicks in and there are no deductions. It’s pulled out and placed in an escrow account with every paycheck. Now comes the fun part… when you fill out your taxes you just put your income, and then you have the option of checking a box that says “[ ] Let the government disburse my taxes”, or a box that says “[ ] Use my taxes for the following” then list every program that receives government money. Those that don’t want their money going for  “Studying why deleting a gene can create sex reversal in people, but not in mice  in Minnesota” can leave that unchecked and not a penny of their money will go toward that program. TADA! A democratic way for everyone to “vote” on what government programs get money. Remember… I’m not talking about Social Security, that’s an entitlement, not a hand-out. I wouldn’t even mind a three or four tiered rate system… like 2.5% for incomes from $20,000 – $40,000 leading up to the 10% rate on anyone earning over $100,000. Anyway, explain to me why this wouldn’t be fair? Because it would put all those tax attorneys out of business?

Let the Counter-Point and Discussion Begin!

intro…

I would like to start by explaining the “Mountain Top” part of my blog title. I don’t imagine myself a “guru” or some wise man sitting on the top of a mountain delivering wisdom to those who take the time to climb the heights and listen. It is much simpler than that, but I really need to fill in some back story to really get the idea across.

some back story…

Having been raised in a small town in Arkansas, and living the majority of my life in that same small town, I was imprinted early with certain “facts” that have shaped my philosophy and determined my basic outlook in life. At the same time these values were being built into my personality I fell in love with technology. For close to three decades I have been working in some area of computing or another, and most of those years I worked for myself. Needless to say when on a conference call with potential clients I have a built-in handicap that must be overcome… and that’s my marked southern accent. So one day my phone rings and I notice it is one of my service clients calling. This particular client just loved to poke fun at my accent, so I decided to have some fun and answered the phone “Hillbilly Programmin’! How can I hep ya?” After about 20 seconds of silence I hear about 6 people burst into laughter. The client was calling to add me into a conference call with AT&T because AT&T was interested in using my software to do the fulfillment for their “Friends & Family” referral program. We did actually land the contract, but to this day there are people who were on that call (including at least two vice presidents) that know me as either the “Mountain Man” or the “Hillbilly Programmer.” I am just an ordinary guy with some things I want to say, and since I’ve been called a Hillbilly I thought the title would be a nice play on the idea.

keep reading… I’m getting to the point… like “who am I?”

I would like to think I’m an intelligent person, and the tests I took in school used to tell me that this was true, but tests don’t mean a lot and life has a way of quickly showing you just how stupid you are when you get thrown into the real world thinking you know it all. I am a conservative Christian, the husband of a VERY tolerant wife, and the father of two amazing young men. In my life I’ve worked in factories, I’ve worked construction, and, while running my own businesses, have worked for some of the largest companies in the world. During all of this, though, the best compliment I ever received from any client or employer was when I was told I had the best work ethic of anyone they had ever had work for them. This takes us back to the previous idea of early development. If someone asked me what single thing that my father taught me that has had the most influence on my life it would be “give a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.” He always told me that if I didn’t do that it was the same as theft… I might as well be stealing money from my employer/client. That’s enough about me for now. Trust me, if you follow these posts for long, you’ll learn a lot more about me in the future.

so… just what is this blog going to be about?

That’s a good question! I really don’t know. I’ve spoken with a friend of mine who has agreed to post “counter-points” to my ramblings. I don’t want this to become just another “right-wing rant” blog. This friend of mine can introduce himself (if he is still wanting to give this a go), but I will tell you that while I am primarily a conservative he is primarily a liberal and while I am a Christian (or attempt to be one), he is… well… I’ll let him explain it. I personally think he falls into the agnostic camp, but I’m sure he will correct me. A lot of you probably know him, so when Tom Black posts on here, everyone welcome him.

are you going to allow comments and, if so, what are the rules?

Yes, we’re going to allow comments. The rules are simple… be civil, be respectful, and don’t attack other people because of their beliefs or their stands on a particular subject. If you aren’t capable of intelligently DISCUSSING your position on a subject without resorting to attacks, then frankly we don’t want to hear from you. We are going to be discussing everything from politics to science to religion. Everyone is welcome to comment, but by commenting you accept the fact that if you ARE disrespectful or attack other people your post will most likely be deleted with no notice and no explanation. I would also ask you to keep the language down to a PG rating. Again… you should be able to get your point across without resorting to foul language.

so… what now?

Introductions and Ideas. Introduce yourself and let us know what topics you would like to discuss. We’re going to try to put up a post every week at first. We may change to more or less frequently after we get a feel of how things are going, but I think that weekly is a good start. I’ve already got some topics lined up I want to discuss such as Gun Control, Immigration, Universal Registration, The Tax System, and many more, but I really want to hear from you., so spread the word that we’re out here and start letting us know what you want to discuss.

Thanks, Michael McGaha